Social Networks

This weeks articles mostly covered the two most popular online social networks, that of MySpace and Facebook and discussed the Deleting Online Predators Act (DOPA) which is currently being legislated in the US Senate. Henry Jenkins in his article argues that instead of banning social networking in schools and libraries the correct way is to educated the students and users to use it in a safe and responsible way. He quotes that 'some bonehead in Alaska has his neural tubes clogged' and is responsible for introducing this legislation and as it is an election year, Wade Roush in his article on the 'Moral Panic over social networking sites', says that anyone who does not support it will be seen as looking 'soft' on sexual predators.
However, as many of the authors of the articles stress, child abductions and potential predators very rarely happen due to an Internet encounter. The potential implications for removing access to social networks for many students will only increase the digital divide between those who have access at home and those that do not. The correct solution to this 'problem' is to educate those students to deal with any negative encounters in the right way and not to take away social networking for everyone else.

Matthew Willams says in his article 'MySpace and Facebook', some educators see these sites as taking students away from 'reading and studying' and someone went as far as to call social networking 'an abuse of technology'. Williams goes on to say that some students who were never really interested in lectures and studying in the first place and this modern technology just gives them a way to express their dissatisfaction. There will always be those educators who still wish to teach in the more traditional ways and wish to dismiss the technological advances. However, in time they will have to adapt or retire. Education seems to be more in the hands of the users or receivers than the providers and educators will have to adapt and use the social networks if they wish to provide interesting and worthwhile methods of teaching.

At the other end of the spectrum to the DOPA is the attitude of some educators who see the benefits of social networking and are finding ways to incorporate it into their classroom experiences

As Henry Jenkins said in his article 'MySpace and DOPA', teachers are already using blogs for teaching, linking classrooms on a global scale, for social studies, posting student made videos on YouTube, taping podcasts of lectures and students are editing and posting on Wikipedia and designing webpages. All of this would disappear if the legislation is passed and social networks are banned in schools.

I was interested to read in Danah Boyd's article on 'Identity Production in a Networked Culture' that the MySpace site acts as an area for teens to 'hangout' which is out of control of their parents and educators. Parents are scared to let teens hang around the mall or the park and have controlled their lives so much that the only place left seems to be the digital world of MySpace where teens can connect with each other, develop profiles and gather in a space where they can see and be seen by their peers.

I am more familar with Facebook having had an account for three or so months and enjoy the ability to share photos with friends and family. Instead of having to e-mail photos to everyone on the mailing list, there is only one place to post them now and they are available for those people to whom I allow access. In a world where people often do not live close by Facebook is another way to stay in contact and keep up to date with activities and the lives of our families and friends. In other words its really great to 'peep' into my kid's lives and see what they are saying, to whom and from whom and stay current with their activities.
There is a site called 'Librarians and Facebook' with 1,883 members who chat about all aspects of libraries including conferences, job and educational opportunities. There is also a site called 'Digital Reference and Facebook'with 426 members which is devoted to digital reference services, and serves as a forum for individuals with an interest in any and all types of digital reference. I will explore more of these sites in the next few days.